Friendships Never Die
by Kristen Riddle
Summary: If you have read any of my other fics...THIS IS NOT THE SAME DAMIEN. It is the one from CharmanderThe Stray Pokémon, but not the one from The Enchanted Forest! This is a DamienMisty love interest fic. Review please.


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Friendships Never Die

Ash, Misty, and Brock were walking along quite as usual. They were somewhere, lost again, although perhaps they didn't know yet. Brock kept on flipping the map over and upside down and Misty took this as a sign that they were indeed lost. All she knew was that it was mild, sunny, and the path was rocky. They were walking along some forests, which, Misty reminded herself, probably contained some disgusting bug Pokémon. She would much rather have been walking by a pond or a river, even a creek. That would make being lost somewhat bearable, at least.

"What's that?" Ash blurted out suddenly, breaking the silence that had been surrounding them for the past hour. A flock of Butterfrees flew out of a tree nearby as he pointed to the thing up ahead. It appeared to be a person, lying on the ground, looking like he was sick or hurt or something.

Misty stopped walking abruptly and stared at the guy. Was it? Could it possibly? But they were so far away from home….

"Hmmm…. That guy looks familiar," Ash said as he and Brock got closer. "I hope it's not another of Team Rocket's disguises!"

Brock and Ash kept walking, not seeming to notice that Misty had stopped dead in her tracks.

"Isn't that _Damien_?" Brock asked. _So he thinks it, too_, Misty thought. She walked up beside Brock. She knew that she knew Damien better anyway.

"It is!" Ash shouted. More Butterfrees. Misty was just glad they weren't Beedrills. And they kept walking right past him.

"Hey, wait up, guys. Aren't we gonna try to help him?"

"Do you forget all the trouble he caused Charmander?" Brock asked.

"And us?" Ash added.

"Well, we can't just leave him here! He could be hurt!" Misty argued.

"Who cares?" said Ash. "He'd do the same to us."

"No he wouldn't," Misty said softly. Ash and Brock turned around and stared at her, so she continued. "Damien and I go way back."

"Damien and I used to live next door to each other, back when we were real little. We were best friends. My sisters always made fun of me and said I was too young to play with them. But Damien always let me play with him, even though he's a year older than me. He was like an older brother - one who wasn't mean to me.

"Damien's father was an alcoholic. He used to hurt Damien pretty bad sometimes. So he had to learn to be tough to fight back.

"Then when I was nine, a new kid moved in across the street from us. He followed Damien like a shadow. This encouraged Damien to start bossing him around. Eventually, Damien took up his father's old habit. He and his gang also stole from me and bullied me. After that, we stopped talking to each other."

"But why didn't you say something when we met Damien before?" Brock asked.

"I couldn't. After seeing how rude and mean he was being, I was so mad at him that I never wanted to see him again.

"But know I've cooled off and he's hurt. Damien always helped me when I was in trouble and I helped him when he was in trouble. Can't you see? We've gotta help him!"

"What a touching story," said a male voice from up above.

"Team Rocket!" the trio shouted at once.

"Just to let you know, we were the ones who hurt this kid," Jessie said as the Meowth balloon flew into view.

"Yeah," Meowth said. "We didn't forget what his Charmander did to us!"

"Arbok!" Jessie called, and the trio noticed that Jessie's snake was hanging from the side of the basket. "Finish him off!"

Misty reacted without thinking. She didn't want Damien to get hurt. She dropped Togepi and jumped in front of Damien as Arbok's poison sting shot down from the balloon.

Luckily, Damien came to and pushed Misty out of the way just in time. The poison hit him in the chest and he screamed in pain.

"That should do it," Jessie said.

"See ya later, twerps," James called as they steered the balloon off towards the distance.

Misty picked herself up off the ground and knelt at Damien's side.

Brock and Ash just stood there, flabbergasted. 

"Don't just stand there! Help me!" Misty shouted.

The boys sprang into action and they eventually got Damien out of the path and into the forest.

He was still breathing, which was a good sign, but he had a high fever.

"I read somewhere that while poison sting only hurts a Pokémon, it can make a trainer really sick," Brock said.

"Oh, no!" cried Misty.

Misty ran to get some water while Brock began to make an antidote for the poison before it flowed completely through Damien's body.

Brock finished the antidote and Misty poured it into Damien's mouth. Brock then went to start cooking lunch and Ash took his Pokémon and went to look for firewood. But Misty stayed with Damien, hoping he would get better. Ironically, it actually reminded her of waiting outside the emergency room in the Route 24 Pokémon Center waiting for his Charmander to recover.

* * *

Misty had fallen asleep beside Damien. It was well past midnight, and although she tried her hardest to fight it, she was tired. Damien was stable, and besides, there was nothing she could do for him now.

It had been maybe an hour since Misty had last woken up to check on Damien, when suddenly she felt something stir beside her. Damien was sitting up on the sleeping bag. He looked at her as she sat up and scooted beside him. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Okay," he answered. He still had that accent. It was one thing about him she couldn't get used to. He had never talked like that before.

"Why did you do that?" he continued, and Misty jerked back to the present.

"I guess some part of me can't forget… before."

There was a long silence which neither of them dared break. Finally, Damien got up and started to pace, eventually settling down on a rock. Misty, no knowing what else to do, stayed put, but Damien motioned for her to sit next to him. She looked around slowly to make sure Ash and Brock were still asleep, then she got up and tiptoed over to the rock. She sat down next to him.

Still it was quiet. Misty felt somewhat warmed by his presence. Not like sitting with Ash or Brock, but something about Damien-

Her thoughts broke as she saw the Weedle just behind Damien. Her eyes widened and her body froze. She opened her mouth….

"No," Damien said, not loudly, but with force. "Don't scream. You'll wake them." He motioned back towards the two occupied sleeping bags near the long burned out fire. "It's okay," he said, putting his arm around her and pulling her closer. "Don't be scared.

And somehow she no longer was. Her tense body relaxed, and she leaned in towards him.

"I'm sorry," said softly.

"For what?" she asked, lifting her head a little to look into his eyes.

"You know…. Everything."

"You don't have to apologize."

"Yes I do. I should never have done those things to you. I've never hated you, Misty. I know you can probably never forgive me but…."

"It's okay," Misty cut in.

They were both silent as they looked into each other's eyes. And then, out of nowhere, they leaned in and kissed.

They broke away. Misty felt a little funny, and she quickly glanced back to make sure Ash and Brock were definitely sleeping.

"You know I can't stay with you and the others," Damien said.

Misty looked at him intently. "Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be right. They hate me."

"No they-" Misty started, but stopped because she knew they did. "I'll go with you," she said.

"No, you should stay here. I think I'm going back home. But you still want to be a water Pokémon trainer, don't you?" 

She nodded.

The moon came out from behind a cloud. It wasn't a full moon, but it was close. It reflected off of Misty's clear blue eyes, which were starting to tear.

Damien stood up and collected his belongings. Misty just sat there and watched him pack. As soon as she had begun to realize her true feelings for him, he was leaving again. It didn't seem fair.

A hint of light was shining over the tree tops. Morning would soon come. Damien was leaving, but he approached her one more time.

"Here," he said, placing something round and smooth in her hand and closing her fingers around it. "I've had this for a while. I was always planning to give it to you, so here it is."

Misty opened her hand and saw the red and white Pokéball. "Thank you," she said, but she looked up and he had already started to head off down the road, back towards Cerulean City.

When Ash and Brock woke up, Misty didn't tell them about her conversation with Damien. In fact, she lied and told them that Damien had left during the night while she was asleep. They never needed to know….

And they packed up and they moved on and Misty loved her new Pokémon, an egg-shaped blue and white Marril. She told them that Damien left it, which was sort of true. Of course, this made the boys think even less of him, abandoning two Pokémon like that.

Only Misty and Damien knew the truth.

And she knew someday she would see him again.


End file.
